Conduit cap



June i8, 1935. R; G, wHn-LOCK ET AL A 2,995,211 l GONDUIT CAP ATTORNEY.

June 18, 1935. R, G, W|||TL0CK ET AL 2,005,211

CONDUIT CAP F'iled April 9, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

June 18, 1935. R Q wHn-LOCK El- AL 2,005,211

CONDUIT CAP ATTORNEY.

June 18, 1935. R. Q wHnLOCK AL 2,05,211

CONQUIT CAP Filed April 9, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY.

June 18,11935. l R. G. wHrrLocK Er AL 2,005,211

CONDUIT CAP Filed April 9, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEY.

`r vclfhicl'r extend downwardly and lowerends a pair of ratchet' springdogs |0| and bay 43 extending laterally therefrom, Hingedly mounted onsuitable lugs on the wall 42 is an outer cover 44 as shown in Figs. 2,3, and '1. Formed in the circular partof the housing side wall 42 nearits upper edge is a recess 46, the purpose of which will be mademanifest hereinafter. Secured as by cap screws 41 to the no or 4| of thehousing 40-is a threaded ilan'gel'48 into which the iill pipe 2| isscrewed to mount the conduit cap 20 on this pipe. 1 Provided in theupper surface of the floor 4| is a fill pipe opening closure valve seat50 in which is disposed a flat valve member 5| having aV short stem 52provided thereon;A .Covering-the valve seat 50 and secured to thehousing floor 4|jas by cap screws 53 is a circular flange 54 of a fillpipe vestibule sleeve 55 having a Iill pipe opening 56 dis-` posed invertical alignment with the ll pipe 2|.v The flange 54 has a suitablebearing opening.

through which thel stem 52 extends upwardly, "there being4 'a suitableVpacking 4gland formed fthislsleeve`` lbout the stem'52 to preventleakage of `gasolinearound thisvstem. Secured 'on the uilpfr end` of thestem 5 2 is an arm 51 foroperating `the valve ln'einbe'r 5 The sleeve 55has an upper porltion l60 lof smallery diameter than the lower portions'o*-` as to form a shoulderlnear the base Vof this sleeve, theupperportion 60 ofthe sleeve'b'eing threaded'both' internally and' externallyas clear- T1y showninFig?. *These 'internal threads are adapted toreceive a plug 63Vto form an air-tight 'seal inl theupper end ofthesleeve 55'. Rotatably resting on the shoulder 4llisv` ay tokendepositaryffloor Adisc65 having a lug 6 9 extending upwardly therefrornv near its"ou'ter edge and by which this disc' 651s a, roken retaining wau's.'yvSecured bya `pin10 "and screws 1|'toithewal1 ,block 12in whichisjournalledafspindle 13, on

the .ryeducesdV diameteriportion 16 of the spindle l 13.1f'l'helowerjendofthe portion'10of the spinljdle is' threaded and a nut19- disposed l'thereon "holds thefratchetgear Y11j andjarm" 18 'upwardly'jagainst theshoul'der '15,1` Th'e lower end 80fof the spindle`13gis ofstilllfurther reducedldial'neter, has a notch 0|"therein, and extendsdownwardly 55 nl roughlsilitabie .opening vvin the housing door 4| intothe'upper end-of the valverodhousing33.

' apin'03"providedini-theupper end of ya hollow valve rod which extendsdownwardly through the' housing .33V and connects with thestem95 bloc'k12 andthe gear 11 isa ratchet control disc wardly therefromisa pin 94which is disposed vin the large notch 9 e3.` The bearing block 12 has asurface. of which f floor portion' Sgen the lower isV attache/dv albracket' 91 'providing' twofar'ms member 5|. i l v18 is a boss ||4having a ratchet pawl- ||5, vthis Lpawl being continuously urged by aspring I6 firmly in place inthe cap.

suDpOrt'at their c *l r y. v will Abe made manifest hereinafter. lH32'.` lvThe spring dogs'llllandv |02are'under ten- 'relation with theteeth of the gear 11. When the gear 11 is rotated in the oppositedirection a sufficient distance the pin 94 engages the disc 90 at theother end of the notch 93 so as to shift the dog |0| in to ratchetingrelation with gear 11 andV remove dog |02 therefrom. Thus, one of thedogs |0 and |02 is always engaged with the teeth of the gear 1,1.

The arm 51 Vof the valve member 5| is connectedtothe arm 18 by a link |0(see Fig. 7) by which swinging of the arm 18 operates the valveExtending upwardly from the arm so as to swing this pawl in ananti-clockwisedirection when viewed as shown in Figs. 9 and 10.

y The pawlfl l5 has a lug formed thereon for a pur- `pose which will bemade manifest hereinafter.

y All of the parts hitherto described in the mechanism of thelconduitcap 20 remain permanently installedon the fill pipe 2| throughout theuse of thisdevice. There is a removable token magazine, locking andcounting mechanism assembly |20, however, which inserted in andremovedefrom the conduit cap 20 incidental to theicontinu'ed'functioning of the 'conduit cap 20f'in disc is adapted to berotated.r Supported on the wall 4 2 and extending :across the mouth ofthe f bay 43' opposite the edg'eof the token depositary sembly |20 tobeV vinserted into v'the device the outer cover 44 must be open and the4ll pipe opening closure member 24'swung into full open positiona's'shown in Fig.V 3, whereupon the assembly |20 maybe 1inserted in orremoved from place in the conduit cap 20. VWith -this explanation inmind,'it will be noted that the removable assembly |20 includes a'bodyhaving an upper `floor |2| and a' sleeve |22 extendingdownwardlytherefrom, the sleevev |22 freely receiving the sleeve 55 andthe outer edge of the floor |2| being cir- 'cular and received in therecess 46 in the upper edge of the housing side wall 42 and acorresponding recess provided in the bearing box floor 96. Securedk tothe iioor |2| and extending into a; complementary recessin the floor 96is a pin |23 for indexing the assembly |20 in its proper position in theconduit cap., When the assembly |20 is in placea ring nut |24 holds theassembly Referring now to Figs. 3, '1, and 8, it will be noted thatacombination inspection'lock |30 is mounted on the floor |2|, theoperating knob 3| of this lock extending upwardly `through the floor I2| as shown in Fig..3`. This knob is normally covered by a small cap|33, as shown in Fig. 2, which can readily be taken off by removal oftwo screws |34. The lock |30 is connected by linkage to an inspectioncounter |36, this counter being viewable through a hole |31 in the floor|2|. Also provided on the under surface of the floor |2| is a dumpcounter |38, the 'total of which may be viewed through a hole |39 asshown in Fig. 2. Provided on the oor |2| and extending downwardlytherefrom is a stud |40, at the lower end of which are provided twopairs of spring ratchet dogs |4| and |42, the action of which Formed inlthe floor |2| is a token well tube |41, this extend- .charged-withdepositary or check tokens.

ing downwardly with a formation'on its lower end which' will bedescribed hereinafter. iPivoted on the well tube |41 as shownt in Figs.Sand 11 is an ern-pty magazine locking dog |44, the latter beingoperatively vconnected to the inspection lockv |30 byA a link |45.Mounted on a spindle |50 in the iloorllfis a` swinging door which isspring urged into ra position covering the well tube |41.

The sleeve |22I is reduced in diameter at its lower end to formshoulders |60 and rI6 I, the Alower end oli'l the sleeve |22 then beingthreaded to receive a nutl |621 Firmly held between the nut |62 and theshoulder |16| isa rcheck token retaining disc l|63 having a singleopening |64 in the periphery thereof ,the purpose of which will vbe mademanitest hereinafter. Rotatably mounted on the sleeve |22 between thedisc |83 'andr theshoulder |60 is a tokenV magazine discvl. This disc`has a series of pocketsI ilformed in its upper surface near the ycuteredge of the disc, as clearly shown in Figs'. 9' and 10 and an identicalseries of pockets 'lll'icrmed inthe lower surface of the disc |88, vthepockets |'1| being in vertical alignment with `the pockets |10. Thepockets and |1| are for f "the purpose of retaining tokens |12'y and|13, re-

spectively,'therein, the tokens |12 .being transaction tokens and thetokens |13 beingv deposited or check tokens. Extending upwardly fromythe upper surface of the discl is a series ofr uniformly spaced pins orpegs |16, one for each of the pockets |10. Extending downwardly fromIthe disc |68. as shown in Fig. '7, and right at the vperiphery of thisdisc is a series of pins |18,these pinsfbeing in alignment with the pin66 on the token depositary floor 65, so that no matter how the assemblyis placed in the device one of the pins H8 will' be close to `andinrotational alignment with the pin 66.

The perimeter of the magazine disc |68 is provided with Viuiiforrnlyspaced ratchet teeth |80, one of which is provided for each ofthe tokenpockets |10,` these teeth being adapted to be .engaged by the pawl ||5as shown in Figs. 9 and Operation To begin with, it iis-'noted that theconduit cap vstations where these stations have contracts vwith oilcompanies for'dispensing only certain brands of gasoline. from that tankand/or where gasoline is. taxed by a governmental agency and the Grov-rernrnent desires to checkup? onall the gasoline dumped into that tank.It thusbecomes para.- mount that a system be devised for governingaccess to that iill pipe so that ifpgasoline is duinped into that pipewithout an accounting being made of Vit this fact will be discovered.` I

The system for which we have devised our invention contemplates that aninspector repre- Sentngthe oi-l company or-the Government will chargeeach conduit cap with a certain `'number of transaction tokens which areplaced in the pockets |10..The pockets |1| are'at'the same time Thecheck tokens may be duplicates of the transaction tokens respectivelyinthe pockets |10 immediately above said check tokens. f

This system alsok contemplates that the driver vof the dumpwagonrepresenting the oil company has access tothe device byl carrying akey to a padlock (not shown). of the outer cover, or by having knowledgeof. thev combination of the outer cover lock.. if a combination padlockis used.` When 'shown in Figs. 3 andi-0 the lug so as to'` prevent thepawl when the token magazine (into"place, the is locked, the c'apl33 is'secured in place over this v |38 through the openings dumpcounter |38and deposits a check token inv the conduit cap 2-0 as the'record of hisopening the conduit cap and having access to the fill pipe 2|. At theend of each day the dump truck operator is required to turn in at hisheadquarters all of the transaction tokens received from conduit caps inmaking his daily rounds and make a complete record of the places atwhich he has dumped gasoline. "Following upthe truck operators areinspectors who check up on the records turned in by the dump truckdrivers by opening up the conduit caps and inspecting the record left inthe cap in the form of deposited check tokens. I

, In theabcve briefly outlined system the conduit cap operates asfollows: In the first place, the inspector has the cap in the conditionshown in Fig. 3, whereupon he unlocks the inspectors combination lock|30, removes the ring nut |24 from the upper end of the sleeve 60,andvseizing the knobs |3| and |52 lifts the assembly |20 from theconduit cap. Now, by inverting the assembly |20 he may insert checktokens through the opening |64 in the check token retaining disc |63into the check token pockets |1-| and by rotating the token magazinedisc |68 can ll all of the pockets |1| with check tokens. Then theinspector reinv.verts the assembly |20 into upright position and thedisc |68 reaches in between |68 and lls all of the without rotating theiioor |2| and the disc 'pockets |16 with transaction tokens. It is to beunderstood, of course, that the pockets |10 and |1| preferably havespecial indicia distinguishing veach pair from the others, so that forveach transaction token placed in the pockets |10 there is only e one ofthe checkr tokens corresponding thereto and that check token is placedin the pocket |1| directly therebeneath. It is to be noted that whilethe closure member 14 is swung open as pawl |`5 is `againstthe wall 42l5 swinging outwardly disc |68 is not opposite thispawl as when theassembly |20 is removed from the conduit cap 20.y l

"With thev magazine'disc |58 thus completely charged with transactionand check tokens, the

iassembly v| 20 is now slipped back into placein the conduit cap 20, thering nut |24Ais screwed back inspectors combination lock |30 lock by thescrews |34, the inspector takes note ofthe numbers displayed by thecounters |36 and closure member '11| into its closed position as 'shown'in Fig. 2, shuts the outer door 44, and locks it with its padlock (notshown).

Now the driver comes along to makea dump of gasoline in this particularstorage tank. He is equipped with a key to the padlock (not shown)` ontheouter 'cover 44 and opens this padlock and lswings open the outercover. He then swings the closure member14 in a clockwise/directionabout half way towards the fullropen position inl which it is shown inFig.` 3.` At this point it is desired to point out in Figs. 11, 12,` andl3 that the pockets |10 areshallower than the transaction tokens |12resting in these pockets, that the left-hand side of mel weil tube |41is of sufficient height to permit .thetokensin the pockets |10 tofpassunder I I8 on the ratchet. of the housing 40' |31 and |39, swingsfthe'this wall in entering the well tube |41, and that the right-hand side ofthe tubular token well tube |41 extends downwardly close to the uppersurface of the magazine disc |68, so as to prevent a token in a pocket|10 from travelling to the rightward out of the well tube |41. It isalso to be noted that the empty magazine locking dog |44 is normallyresting on top of the transaction tokens as shown in Fig. 11. When thetruck driver starts to open the closure member 14 as just mentioned, thepawl |5 engages the next adjacent tooth |80 as shown in Fig. 9 androtates the disc 68 to shift a transaction token into engagement withthe right wall of the well tube |41 and this prevents further rotationof the disc |68 and also prevents'further swinging of the closure member14. It thus becomes necessary for the truck driver to insert a tool200,v as shown in Fig. 12, into a hole provided inthe middle of thetransaction token |12 disposed in the well tube 41 and'lift this tokenfrom the well before he can complete the opening of the closure member14. It is now necessary to note that whenever the closure member 14 isclosed into the position in which it is shown in Fig. 2, the pin 94 asshown in Fig. 16 engages vthe control disc 90 so as to lift the dog |0|out of engagement with the ratchet gear 11 and permit the dog |02 toshift inwardly into engagement with this gear. Therefore, when the truckdriver starts to swing the closure member 14 in clockwise direction itis not possible for him to reverse this direction of movement of theclosure member 14 until after 'this member has been swung entirely intoits outermost position as shown in Fig. 3, whereupon the pin 94 engagesthe shoulder at the opposite end of the notch 93 so as to swing thecontrol disc 90 in the opposite direction, thus removing the dog |02from engagement with the ratchet wheel 11 and letting the dog |0| Vdowninto engagement with this wheel.

With each rotational shifting of the magazine disc |68 when the member14 is opened, one of the pins |16 engage a cam member |90 on thedumpcounter |38 so as to actuate this counter Vto raise by one the totalindicated thereby.

, At -the same time that the transaction token |12 was movedinto placein the well tube |41 so that the truck driver-might remove thistherefrom, the check token |13 in the pocket |1| immediatelytherebeneath was discharged downwardly 'through the opening |64 in thedisc |63 as shown in Figs. 7 and 13, this check token falling on therotating disc 65. The purpose of the pins |18 beingin alignment with thepins 66 on the disc '65 is so that when the magazine |68 is rotated bythe pawl ||5 this also causes rotation of the token depositary disc 65,thus preventing the piling up of check tokens on the disc 65 underneaththe opening |64 in the disc |63.

It is also to be noted, as shown in Fig. 15, that the spring dogs lillvand |42 engage the pins |16 provided on the magazine disc |68 `as thelatter rotates so as to prevent any reverse rotation of this disc.

The condition which exists when the last token has been removed from themachine is shown in Fig. 13 where the dog |44 has dropped down into koneof the pockets |10 so asto prevent further rotation ofthe magazine disc|68. This takes place when the closure member 14 is in completelyclosedposition so that it is not possible to swing this clockwise owingto the dog |44 being positioned in the pocket |10 as shown in Fig. 13.When this occurs it is necessary to call the in- `in which it is shownin Fig. 3.

spector who comes and unlocks the inspectors combination lock |30. Whenunlocked, this lock, through the linkage |45, lifts the lock member |44out of the pocket |10 into which it has dropped, thus permitting theinspector to swing the closure member 14 in clockwise direction and intothe position in -which it is shown in Fig. 3. The inspector now liftsthe assembly |20 from the conduit cap and recharges the magazine |68with tokens.

We return now to Where the truck driver has just opened the closuremember 14 to the position The opening of this closure member operatingthrough the arms 18 and linkage 51 swings the valve member 5| into openposition as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 10. The truck driver nowinserts a Wrench in thevplug 63, removes this from the upper end of thesleeve 60, and dumps his gasoline down the ll pipe 2| into the storagetank to which this leads. After making'his dump the driver replaces theplug 63 and swings the closure member 14 back into the position in whichit is shown in Fig. 2. When this has been done he has completed histransaction and has a transaction token to show for this which he takesback to the office and turns in in making his report. It is to be notedat this time that in returning the closure member 14 from the positionin which it is shown in Fig. 3 to the position in which it is shown inFig. 2, this must be continued before reversing the direction again ofthe closure member 14 on account'of the fact that the spring dog is atthis time in operative engagement with the teeth of the ratchet gear 11as shown in Fig. 17.

It is also desired to point out that owing to the linkage ||0 whichconnects the arm 18 with the arm 51, the valve is not opened until theshut- 01T valve 86 is practically closed. I'his insures that gasolinecannot be dumped into the storage tank and taken therefrom at the sametime through the apparatus of our invention.

It is further evident that subcombinations of our invention may beeffectively used without the balance of the invention, such, forinstance, as using merely the check token depositing mechanism withoutthe transaction means or vice versa.

Referring to Figs. 18 and 19, we have shown therein a storage tank 200provided with a. fill pipe 20| having a head (not shown) similar to theaforedescribed head 20 mounted on the upper end thereof. Adjacent thepipe 20| is a sounding rod guide 202 identical with the guide 21 shownin Fig. 1. Mounted on the tank 200 ,adjacent the 5.11 pipe 20| is agauge 205, the latter including a vertical tube 206 having a dial 201 onthe upper end thereof. Rotatably mounted above the dial 201 is a pointer208 having a downward extending shaft 209 fixed thereto. The shaft 209is connected by means of gears 2|0 to a oat rod 2| It is clear that thedial 201 of the gauge 205 may be 4calibrated so as to accuratelyindicate the quantity of liquid within the tank 200.

While this invention is preferably adapted to be used with the tokens 12and |13 or with either the tokens |12 or the tokens |13 separately, itis also preferable in some situations to use the invention withouteither the tokens 12 or |13. In order to operate the device withouttokens it is, of course, necessary rst to secure the locking lug |44 inupward position where it will not engage with the magazine disc |68,this adjustment being accomplished by the inspector in setting thedevice for operation without tokens. When the selldut :een 2P rieuse@this @weer @H10-Suse member Mis freely swngableftomthe positionix-xwhiehi-t is shownv in Fig. 2 to .the positionin which iii is,Shownin Fig. .3 ,and isthenfreeto be returned. te the .position MWh-1Gbit iS-fh0W11 Fig. 2,. time -epened andslosed the .closurefmembcr 1Aoperates .thedump counter |38 so that this counter at all timesaccurately registers the vnurrtber of .times which the closure member 14is opened and closed. It is, of course, clear that this freedom ofmovementl of the closure member 14 results from the fact that when thedevice is used without tokens the absence of tokens in the pocketsprevents the locking of the closure member 14 in partially openedposition as this normally occurs as shown in Fig.-11 when this device isbeing used with tokens.

It is also believed clear that the outer cover 44 of the invention isnot an indispensable element in the combination and is mainly providedfor to keep dust out of the device as well as indicating when it is openthat a dumping transaction is in progress. Under some circumstances itis desirable to eliminate the outer cover 44.

While we have shown the closure member` 14 as actuating the shut-offvalve 3| when the closure member 14 is opened, it is to be understood itis not always essential that the closure member be connected with theshut-off valve 3| and that in some situations may be preferable where itis desired to avoid interrupting the dispensing of gasoline from thepumps in a service station to allow the shut-off valve 3| to remain openduring the dumping of gasoline through the conduit cap 2|).V

The use of the conduit cap without tokens is for the purpose ofexpediting the opening and closing of the closure member 14 and wheresuch a close check as provided by the tokens vis unnecessary. It will benoted that even where the tokens are eliminated the closure member 14 isstill provided with the ratchet means 11--90- lol- |02 and the dumpcounter |36, actuation of which by the closure member 14 is assured bythis ratchet means. Accordingly, the counter |38 accurately registersthe number of times the closure member 14 is completely opened andclosed, and as this occurs only once for each dump of gasoline madeinthe storage tank equipped with the conduit cap 20 an accurate recordof the number of 'dumps made in this tank is shown by the counter |38.

What We claim is:

1. The combination of a ll pipe; a head on said pipe; a pipe closuremember movably mounted on said head and having a position closing saidpipe and a position freeing said pipe to permit access thereto; meansprovided on said head for discharging a token into a position Where itmay be taken by the operator for each cycle of actuation of said memberto permit access to said fill pipe; and means for coacting with a tokenbefore its removal to prevent further actuation of said closure memberuntil said token has been taken up by said operator.

2. A combination as in claim 1 in which said pipe closure member isdisposed away from its normal fill pipe closing position when movementof said closure member is prevented by said token.

3. A combination as in claim 1 in which said pipe closure member'isdisposed away from its normal fill pipe closing position when movementof said closure member is prevented by said token; and a cover for saidhead which snugly being retiimedto its normalfheadf,cbveringpOSi-f tionWhenfsaid-olosure member, is. .dspQS-d away from-,its normal .fill pipeos'ing position...

-4- @recombination 0f. e; Pipe.; ahead? 01.1 rire. maritime-a dep itery.Chairmen a Pipe @Sure imemberm and means for concurrently depositing acheck token in said depository chamber for each delivery of a token asaforesaid.

5. In a conduit capthe combination of: a head having a fill pipeopening; a fill pipe closure member movably mounted on said head andhaving a positionr closing said opening and a position freeing saidopening to permit access thereto; and means provided on said head fordepositing check tokens contained therein one for each cycle ofoperation of said closure member.

6. In a conduit cap the combination of: a headhaving a ll pipe opening;a ll pipe closure member movably mounted on said head and having aposition closing said opening and a position freeing rsaid opening topermit access thereto; means preventing reversal of direction ofmovement of said closure member either during an opening movement or aclosing movement thereof; means provided on said head for deliveringatokeninto a position to be taken upI by the operator for each cycle lofactuation of said closure member; and means for coacting with a tokenbefore its removal for halting said `closure member in the midst of acycle of oper-- ation until said token shall have been'taken up by theoperator.

7. In a liquid storage and dispensing system,

the combination of: a tank having receiving and dispensing openings; aclosure for said receiving v opening; shut-off means for said dispensingy opening; a token magazine; means connected with said closure member toshut off said shutoff means when said closure member is moved away fromsaid receiving opening; means vfor deliveringa token from said magazineinto position where this can be taken up by the operator during eachopening and closing cycle ofl said closure member; and means preventingreversal of direction of movement of said closure member either duringan opening movement or a closing livering a token into a position to betaken up by the operator, said token being so delivered iny the midst ofa cycle of actuation of said closure member; and means for coacting withsaid token before its removal for halting said closure member when saidtoken is so delivered until said lo Athereof; means provided onsaid headfor delivering a token into a position to be-taken up by the operator,said token being delivered during an opening movement ofsaidclosuremember; and means for coacting with said token before its'removalfor preventing completion of the opening of said closure member -untilsaid token shall have been taken up by the operator.

RALPH G. WHITLOCK. LEWIS SHARP.

